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Which social networks should I use

Which Social Network Should I Use?

So, you’ve got a website. Tick.

Here’s the thing. In 2017, a website simply isn’t enough. More than ever it’s important to use your website as a central business hub and reach into the spaces your audience already engages in.

Despite having been around for more than a decade social media is still misunderstood by many businesses. When we recently suggested creating a social media presence for one of our more corporate clients we were quickly rebuffed.

‘We don’t need to be on Facebook’.

In this particular case I agreed. They didn’t need to be on Facebook. Their audience were not using Facebook to discover their services. However, with no SEO on their website and no Perth focused marketing strategy to speak of, they did need to extend their reach.

In this particular case we explored opportunities on LinkedIn (the social network for professionals) but it was the initial misunderstanding that played on my mind.

It’s easy to see why Facebook is often confused as encompassing all social networks. With over 1.8 billion users it is by far the largest in the world. There are however, many more options for businesses to engage with their clients.

Not every social media platform is made to connect in the same way and it’s important that your organisation:

Understands where your audience is most active
Selects platforms that align with your business goals
Has a clear budget in mind, especially if you intend to promote and sponsor social content
Has a clear content strategy in mind (what you’re going to post)

With this in mind lets take a brief look at each of the main social media platforms.

Which social network should I use?

Facebook : Not just a friend network

As mentioned above, Facebook is by far the biggest social network. It’s widely regarded as the place to connect with friends, family, celebrities and, importantly, businesses.

Facebooks strength is in its versatility. Whether we like it or not, it has so much individual data that it’s a marketers dream. From a business perspective this is incredibly powerful. Imagine wanting to engage with people that have a clear interest in your services. Using Facebook Ad’s it’s possible to drill down into demographics so that you can specify who you want your paid post/advertisement to connect with. From age and sex through to very specific interests, it’s a great way to create an instant connection.

Content is key when considering whether Facebook is right for you. As it’s a place that friends connect with each other and users select the topics they’re interested in, it’s important to create posts that engage. This is easy if you’re promoting a fresh product, talking up an exciting tech launch or wanting to let people know about an upcoming event – not so easy if you’re a mining company, stockbrokers or lawyer – with respect of course to mining companies, stockbrokers and lawyers.

There are some that think every business should have a Facebook page. We tend to disagree. If your audience is not actively using and searching for your services on Facebook, and if you think you’ll struggle creating content then it’s ok to give it a miss. There’s plenty more to choose from!

Follow Start Digital on Facebook.

Instagram : Looking good!

In short, Instagram is a mobile image sharing platform that allows individuals and businesses to post visual content on the app. It’s core demographic is 18-29 year olds but it’s becoming increasingly popular in the 30-49 age bracket. Did we also mention that it’s owned by Facebook? Yep. Mark Zuckerberg paid a measly $1billion for it back in 2012. Not bad for a service that had only been operational for 18 months. We digress.

Given it’s content is visual Instagram is a great place to showcase product images, raise brand awareness, promote services using photos and design, talk up your team, show off projects – we could go on. Suffice to say studies indicate that visual content is one of the most important factors when marketing businesses online – which makes Instagram a go to place for marketers.

The demographic will determine whether this is the right platform for your business but it continues to rise in popularity and as cameras in mobile devices continue to improve it goes without saying that we’ll be taking more pictures, and hopefully fewer selfies.

Follow Start Digital on Instagram

LinkedIn : For those serious about business

Of all social networks LinkedIn is the one tailored towards individuals and organisations that take business seriously. Whether you’re a sole trader or large corporate, a student or executive, a LinkedIn profile can help you connect with like mind people and groups. It’s a virtual version of that conference you don’t want to go to. Instead of swapping business cards you connect with one another.

LinkedIn can be used to find and apply for jobs, connect with people you’re doing business with and connect with businesses that are in the same space or looking for your services. Our favourite feature is LinkedIn’s own publishing platform that allows individuals and businesses to create and post blog articles, establishing credibility and demonstrating knowledge on specific subjects.

Follow Start Digital on LinkedIn

Twitter : To Tweet or no to Tweet?

Twitter is a social media platform that allows users to publish short burst content and messages – otherwise known as microblogging.

So why is it so popular?

In a world where attention spans get shorter and more and more outlets are competing for our attention, Twitter is the perfect platform to get news, updates and information ‘on the go’. The challenge is finding users and content that’s high quality and relevant.

Twitters big (or little) difference is that it allows users 140 characters to create a post worthy of being read. It’s a great platform to push out calls to action, marketing shout outs and off the cuff thoughts (hello Donald Trump), but it may not be the place to get your in depth news.

Statistics indicate that Twitter may be in decline but that doesn’t mean you should avoid it. Twitters business advertising tools make it a relevant and powerful platform for businesses that want to connect with their tweeting audience.

Follow Start Digital on Twitter

Google+ : Added web power

Google Plus (Google+) is largely misunderstood. It doesn’t fall into the friendship/professional/image/rapid fire category of any of the above social networks. In fact you could argue that it all of the above – and more.

Google+ is a platform that connects directly to your Google account via Gmail. It provides you with the opportunity to configure all of Googles resources such as YouTube, Hangouts and Google Maps, and, from a business perspective, gives you the power to control how Google views and displays your business listing. More on that in a future post!

Here’s why we love Google+. It’s by Google and we know that anything happening on Google+ will be given some priority. Everything that’s posted on Google+ is indexed by Google immediately, in turn influencing search engines results. Now, we’re not saying it will single handedly push your site to page 1 but it will have a very positive influence on your sites performance.

Need to get your business onto Google+? Contact us today for more information.

Follow Start Digital on Google+

Snapchat : Oh to be young

First things first, Start Digital don’t have a Snapchat account. There are a few reasons for this but mainly because we don’t feel that it’s the best platform for us to engage with our clients. That’s not to say it’s not a viable and very powerful business marketing platform.

Snapchats own statistics indicate that their core demographic is aged between 12 and 34. Messages and images on Snapchat are generally vibrant, fun and short. This is not a platform for professional discussion or corporate strategy!

The clear marketing opportunity with Snapchat is to reach a youthful audience. Their paid Snap-Ads marketing solution offers probably the best ever way to reach into the market – a full screen, 10 second video ad that appears in amongst everyday Snapchat content.

Stats indicate that Snapchat reaches 41% of all 18-34 year olds every day in the US. They’re incredible statistics and demonstrate the power of Snapchat as an advertising platform.

In summary, there are so many viable social media solutions available to Perth businesses that will compliment your online profile and help drive traffic to your web site. The key is in selecting platforms that you believe align with your broader business goals and give you a direct opportunity to connect and engage with your current and future clients.

Need help in selecting the right social media platform? Drop us a line or feel free to visit our StartSEO site that provides a more in depth look at our Perth Social Media service.

startdig

We are a collective of designers, coders, producers and technologists from around the world who collaborate on a shared passion for innovative websites. Based in Perth, Western Australia, we bring style and innovation to the projects we undertake. Taking time to understand our clients requirements we strive to produce quality web design work for an affordable price. We then leverage our years of experience to make sure that our websites are responsive, SEO friendly and meet the clients requirements.

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Start Digital
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Jack McLoughlin
Jack McLoughlin
17:04 29 Jun 20
Thoroughly professional and well communicated. Thanks Neil
aimxi online
aimxi online
04:37 15 May 20
I am from Brisbane, my name is Craig, I have a dog training company, it was my first time attempting on page SEO, after calling nearly all SEO companies in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, this was the only place that gave me some time to help me out. 5 star from me, well done in being a human and not worrying about what you could have got from me. hats off to you !. from dogtrainingbegins.com.au
Sheri Macmahon
Sheri Macmahon
09:04 17 Jan 20
Knowledgable, inspiring and helpful. Getting my online presence created and managed by the Start Digital is the BEST decision I ever made.
Hello :-)
Hello :-)
12:39 12 Jun 19
Neil & The Team at Start Digital are fantastic to work with. Our new website is exceptional. The guys here have fresh, modern ideas and the process from start to finish was flawless. Highly recommended.
Blank Walls
Blank Walls
03:57 11 Jun 19
Neil and the team at Start Digital provide such an excellent service and have been a massive help for us since we launched late 2018. Their attention to detail is unmatched compared to other digital agencies we've dealt with, and the team go out of their way to ensure the best result is achieved in the most time & cost efficient way. Thanks again Start Digital
Move Homes
Move Homes
00:18 11 Jun 19
A huge thank you to Neil and the Start Digital team! We engaged them to redesign our Move Homes website to take our brand to the next level. Not only does the website look fantastic, but throughout the website build we received frequent and transparent communication- we knew exactly what was happening and why. Start Digital listened to what we needed and would offer their advice on how to achieve our goals. Aside from their expertise, they’re also great people and really easy to deal with. We look forward to working on more projects over the coming years!
Sheila Woods
Sheila Woods
04:36 12 Mar 18
Neil Mason and the Start Digital team have done a tremendous job with the design and implementation of Interstaff’s new website. Our brief to Neil was for a clean, modern website which visually communicated our brand values, ‘sharp, dependable, expert and human’ to both business and individual clients, and importantly to offer an engaging and easy-to-navigate online experience optimised for SEO. We are delighted with the design as well as the level of consideration and attention to detail Neil and his team put into shaping the online experience of our brand. Start Digital have been very flexible and easy to collaborate with and nothing was ever too difficult. They went above and beyond – even working over the weekend to help us have our website ready to launch ahead of one of our key business seminars. We look forward to continuing to work with Neil and his team in the future and would definitely recommend their services.
iQuest Consulting
iQuest Consulting
05:48 21 Feb 18
The Start Digital team built us a new website and have been managing our SEO for over a year now. During that time our site has moved into the top five on page 1 of Google for keywords such as IT Company Perth and IT Support Perth which has increased our traffic considerably. We're very proud of our website and highly recommend Start Digital.
Heather Bush
Heather Bush
01:02 16 Feb 18
Neil and his team at Start Digital go above and beyond expectations. Having worked with many web agencies I can honestly say that Start have been one of the most open and cost effective agency I have worked with . They come highly recommeded
Anthony Godin
Anthony Godin
05:11 04 Jan 18
Excellent Perth website design, development and SEO agency
Uniting ChurchWA
Uniting ChurchWA
06:58 06 Dec 17
After years of tolerating our old website, we are now proud owners of a sleek, responsive and easy to use new site, thanks to Start Digital. Professional, practical, affordable and easy to work with-Neil and his stellar team delivered our site along with 22 additional sites for some of our congregations. Our organisation is complex and this project was massive. Throughout the project, Start Digital were flexible and patient with us. They responded quickly to emails and phone calls, kept us in the loop and always made time to touch base in their cool office. We can’t thank the team enough for their tremendous effort. It’s only been a month, but we have received plenty of positive feedback since launching the new site. We look forward to working with Start Digital for future digital projects and highly recommend anyone who needs a new website to give them a call.
Amantha Imber
Amantha Imber
08:25 02 Dec 17
Neil and the team created an AMAZING website for Inventium. We have received so much positive feedback since launch. I highly recommend Start Digital - they are awesome!
Lee Bramley
Lee Bramley
03:54 16 Nov 17
Fantastic Service, Really Knowledgeable in all areas of Website and Marketing strategies, they built us a fantastic looking site and nothing was too much for them throughout the process, We also found them to be very reasonably priced compared to other quotes we had, highly recommended.
Dean Capelli
Dean Capelli
06:22 11 Jul 17
Start Digital have built 3 websites for The Highways Group. We've been impressed with their attention to detail and quality of design every time. They're a friendly, professional agency and our go to web team.
John Argiropoulos
John Argiropoulos
07:45 19 May 17
We highly recommend Start Digital service, their efficient , personnel approach and professional skills gave us great results thanks .
Mitch Capelli
Mitch Capelli
22:13 25 Nov 16
Knowledgeable and excellent service at a great price I highly recommend Start Digital. We engaged them to redesign our website and manage our online presence. Previously we were a few pages back on a google search, however after only a few months we are in and around the top 5 on the first page. The guys at Start were great to deal with providing straight forward easy to understand information without the typical sales pitch that we have experienced many times before from other providers in the industry. We continue to receive updates on the progress of our website and their SEO service all for a very reasonable rate (ie. much cheaper than we were previously paying for a lesser service)
Eva Wood
Eva Wood
01:24 23 Nov 16
Neil and his team was responsible for the design and re-branding of our website, business cards and marketing material. They quickly understood our business, they identified the market we needed to target and delivered an excellent solution to match. We would highly recommend Start Digital.
Compac Marketing
Compac Marketing
04:05 14 Oct 16
Neil and the guys at Start Digital took care of some problems we had with our website performance. They were really efficient, responsive, easy to get along with and gave us some great pointers to help us with SEO. Unlike many digital marketing companies out there, Start Digital were very genuine and well-priced. Would definitely recommend their services to others.
Paul Avery
Paul Avery
05:23 13 Oct 16
Great design ideas and technical capability means a complete solution for small and medium sized businesses like us. Neil & Co actually take an interest in what you are trying to achieve rather than just turn and burn volume website factories out there! I recommend them.
Claire Leech
Claire Leech
02:11 04 Oct 16
We have had the pleasure of working with the team at Start Digital recently as we wished to update our website for our restaurant business. WOW! An amazing new, innovative, trendy and professional approach taken by these guys has resulted in a brilliant new site, clearly directing so much more traffic through our business resulting in increased brand awareness and google presence. As a relatively new business, Start Digital will definitely be going places ! We really look forward to continuing to work with them in the future and watch both our and their business grow! Thanks Neil and the team at Start Digital.
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